L.A. Federal Judge Rules That a Key Part of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Effort Is Illegal

Los Angeles Times

3 months ago

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that police departments violate the Constitution if they detain inmates at the request of immigration agents, marking the latest legal setback for the Trump administration’s plans to identify and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

Protesters in downtown Los Angeles during a march last year against President Trump’s immigration policies. (Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

In his order issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. found that a now-defunct policy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department violated the constitutional rights of inmates who were kept in custody at the behest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Birotte’s strongly worded order bolstered similar previous court rulings, which found police cannot legally honor such detainer requests from ICE.